As a start up or existing business, we spend a huge amount of time identifying and refining our offering. We seek out the people that our product or service can help. We scrutinize our websites, social media, packaging, shipping cost, pricing, fulfillment processes, referral processes, positive review processes, etc. in the pursuit of perfection.

Once we put in all that work… And it is work. We sit and wait for the orders to pile in but… They don’t.

That is a lesson to be learned in many facets of life including preparedness. Regardless of how prepared you believe you are, there will be holes in your plans once a real emergency occurs. There is always room for improvement, and things that were overlooked or plans that did not play out the way you thought can be a real learning opportunity.

The goal is to get your business, your preparedness plans and your personal life operating “good enough”. If things seem to be moving down the correct path or if everything is in line with the 6 Freedom Pillars that we discussed before; that is the time to refine and strive for perfection.

As a side note: Crystal and I discuss preparedness instead of prepping for a few reasons. The word prepper conjures images of fall out shelters or bunkers, heavily armed militias, hazmat suits, Doomsday Preppers and gas masks, etc.

We believe in being prepared for anything that life throws at you. I am an old Boyscout from way back. I have always hoped for the best and planned for the worst. We discuss planning for a job loss or major illness by working on the Money/Wealth Freedom Pillar (https://profitablepreparedness.com/episode11). We also discuss being prepared for weather related emergencies for the area that you live in. For us in Illinois that includes tornado season, blizzard/snowstorms and house fires through focusing on water and food storage most importantly. Then expanding into bug out bags for house fires and black out kits for storms and power loss for items to illuminate your dark house and keep you warm when it’s cold..

I realize that the nuances between the terms Prepper and Preparedness are minuscule, but words mean things and we do not want to send mixed messages.

OK, so enough of that… Let’s get into USP’s

A USP is a Unique Selling Proposition, and it is what differentiates you from anyone else in the marketplace from your customer’s perspective.

I want to clarify that point for a second. Everything you do should be understood from the customer, or potential customer’s perspective. We have a way of assuming something is important or valuable. Or assuming that our idea is so revolutionary that you do not have any competitors. In the event that you do have a completely innovative product (which is rare) there will be copycats so it’s important to be able to communicate what you do effectively.

Back to the story at the beginning. The reason that you put in all of the work to get your business operational and do not automatically have orders piling in is that you have not spent time telling your story (Marketing), done an effective job communicating the value you provide and how you are different from the rest (USP) or have not acquired the skill set to convert your potential customers into paying customers. (Sales)

If you do not spend the time to develop your Unique Selling Proposition you are just white noise in a very loud world

In our last podcast, episode 12 – The Business Opportunity Filter and Branding (https://profitablepreparedness.com/episode12) we discussed that the noise of TV, radio, internet, social media, work, school, etc is so loud that you have to stand out or you will fade into background.

Business is hard, and there are a lot of moving pieces. Your USP, which is communicated by your Elevator speech / Tagline is a mantra that you should memorize, exactly as you wrote it in its entirety.

But why is it important to memorize?

For two reasons:

#1 People will inevitably ask you what you do for a living. Instead of saying, “I have a podcast called Profitable Preparedness that discusses preparedness and business building principles

Instead you can say… “I help hardworking business owners in the preparedness community break out of corporate America to live a totally free life”

And then, naturally there is a follow up question:

Well how do you do that?

Our follow up response looks like this:

We created something that we call the 7 Pillars of Freedom, which identifies the different areas of Freedom within your life and help our customers generate a strategy to achieve true freedom

Yes we added one more Pillar (I like 7 better anyway), but as a recap they are:

Lifestyle Freedom

Magic Wand

Health Freedom

Emotional

Physical

Spiritual

Money/Wealth Freedom

Budget

Debt Repayment

Cash Flow Mgmt

Investing

Incorporating

Tax Planning

Asset Protection

Career Freedom

Time Freedom

Relationship Freedom

Preparedness Freedom

The second reason that you want to memorize your Elevator Speech/Tagline line is to keep you focused.

I guarantee as you become busy with your business, you will inevitably blur the line between productive work and busy work. It’s natural. If you do not protect your time and stay focused, the busy work will become a larger portion of your weekly schedule than it should.

In addition to have a rocking response when someone asks what you do. Whenever you are about to commit to a project you can recite your Elevator Speech and ask yourself; “Does this project help my customers or potential customers empower themselves to leave corporate America and grow their businesses? If the answer is no, then you should not spend your time on that project. After you get past the do it all yourself phase, hire it out. I can assure you the money it costs to hire out those projects will have a multiplier effect on your business cash flow.

Unique Selling Proposition Examples

Snickers

It was introduced in the Great Depression (1930) for 5 cents

First tagline- Packed with peanuts, Snickers Satisfies

Gave people moments of joy, not only through the great depression but also through the great recession

Now uses humor in tagline- You’re not you when your hungry

Airbnb

An online marketplace where homeowners/hotels are able to rent out their properties or provide experiences via the site

Is 100% about the customer/host

Customers/hosts are the brand

Instead of the company telling its story, the customers are able to tell their stories

Tagline- “Live like a local” or “belong anywhere”

Krochet Kids

The origin story is pretty interesting–three guys crocheting headwear

Simple Idea with a big impact

Teaching people in developing countries (Northern Uganda and Peru) how to crochet to earn a fair wage to provide for their families

Tagline- This is Empowerment.

Elevator Speech / Tagline

Let’s take a second to dissect our Elevator Speech

“Helping hardworking business owners in the preparedness community to break out of corporate America to live a totally free life”

Who is your market?….preparedness community

How can you help?….educating, coaching and supporting people in their quest to create a profitable business